The Jew's Garden- Bosserman (MO) 1927 Randolph A
[From Vance Randolph's Ozark Folksongs, Vol. 1, British Ballads and Songs, p. 149-150, 1946.
R. Matteson 2015]
A. The Jew's Garden -Sung by Mrs. Guy Bosserman, Pineville, Mo., Oct. 17, 1927.
It rained a mist, it rained a mist
It rained right over the lea,
An' two little boys from our town,
Come over to play with me.
One tossed too high, one tossed too low,
One tossed right over the wall,
One tossed right into the Jew's garden
Where no one could enter at all.
Out come a maid all dressed so fine,
All dressed in silk so gay,
Come in, little boy, come in, she says,
An' you shall have your ball.
I won't come in, I can't come in,
An' I won't come in, he says,
For oft-times I have heard them say
That they wouldn't get out till death.
She took him by the lily white hand
An' drew him into the hall,
She placed him into the dark dungeon
Where no one could enter at all.
She spread a handkerchief over his face,
An' pinned it with a gold pin,
An' called for a case as pure as gold
For to catch his heart blood in.
Oh put the prayer-book at my head,
The bible at my feet,
An' when my playmates call for me,
Tell them that I'm asleep.
Oh put the prayer-book at my feet,
The bible at my head,
An' when my parents call for me,
Tell them that their little one's dead.